Name Game
by Standard-Ang3l
Summary: Caitlyn gets very upset with Jason for a small slip-up.


Caitlyn jiggled her leg impatiently as she and Jason waited for their to-go orders. The 59 Diner might be tasty, but it always took forever for the multiple orders to be filled. Caitlyn blamed it on Shane and Nate being extremely picky and detailed in their orders.

Jason's phone rang and he glanced down at the screen before looking over at Caitlyn. "I need to take this. If the food comes, just wait here. Back in a second," he said, getting up and walking away.

Caitlyn bit her lip unsurely. She had a hunch it was Katherine, the publicist for the band. She was nice, but Caitlyn just did not like her. Probably because she and Jason were unusually close. She would think that though, considering her sort-of attraction to Jason.

Okay, more than sort-of attraction.

The food came just as Jason walked back through the door, still on the phone. "Okay, I'll tell them when I see them. Caitlyn and I are on lunch duty right now. See you around, Katie."

Caitlyn felt as if she'd been slapped.

Jason hung up his phone and smiled down at her. "Perfect timing huh, Caity?"

She growled and stood up. "No."

His eyes went wide as he realized what he had just said on the phone and the color drained from his face. "Caity, I-I'm sorry."

She turned towards him as she pushed open the door. "Don't call me Caity. I think you've lost that privilege."

He rolled his eyes and tried to reach for her arm. "_Caitlyn_, don't act like this."

"Don't act like what?"

"Like I've betrayed you or something."

"Haven't you? _I'm_ Caity, Jase. Not _her._"

"Caity—"

She shook her head. "I already told you. Don't call me Caity. In fact, don't call me anything at all. Don't even talk to me." She paused before walking out the door. "I hope your chicken's raw inside," she said savagely as she stomped out the door.

Caitlyn kicked at a pinecone on the sidewalk, not caring when it hit a car that was parallel parked nearby. She was trying to fight the urge to cry. Why was this affecting her so badly? It was just a name.

It really wasn't though.

She pulled out her phone and ran through her contacts. She pressed the call button and tapped her foot as she waited for Mitchie to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Mitch?" she said with a gulp. "I…I…I'm not his only Caity."

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. Go home, alright? I'll be there with El as quick as I can."

Caitlyn sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "Okay…bring some ice cream and some spinach dip?"

Mitchie chuckled lightly. "Okay, Caity. I'll bring you food."

"Thank you," she said softly.

Caitlyn quickly went to her apartment and changed into a pair of sweats and a faded Peter Pan t-shirt. Just as she was pulling on her owl sweater, the intercom buzzed.

"Mitchie, Ella?" she asked.

"Yes?" Mitchie asked.

"I'll buzz you up."

"Checking to make sure we weren't Jason?"

"Shut up, El," Caitlyn said.

"Just calling it like I see it, Cait."

"I'm buzzing you up now. Sorry if I miss what you're saying over the loud noise."

Caitlyn waited for Mitchie and Ella to knock on her door and when she heard them a moment later, she ran to open it. She was immediately greeted with the smell of warm bread and spinach artichoke dip.

"Got your ice cream and dip. And wine coolers."

Caitlyn smiled. "You guys are wonderful."

"And I brought back your John Hughes movies," Ella said, pulling Some Kind Of Wonderful and St. Elmo's Fire out of her bag.

"Thanks. Really," Caitlyn said, ushering them inside.

"So what exactly happened?" Mitchie asked as she went into the kitchen to grab spoons and plates.

Caitlyn shrugged. "Jason and I were at 59 Diner to pick up the lunch order to bring back to the studio when Katherine called. He was about to hang up when I heard him call her "Katie". He also referred to me as "Caitlyn" in the same sentence."

Mitchie and Ella looked at her sympathetically and handed her a pint of Ben and Jerry's. She shook her head and pointed at the wine coolers.

"But I thought he never called you Caitlyn?" Ella asked, handing her one.

"Only when he's annoyed with me or trying to get my attention…and when we first met. But other than that, it's _always_ been Caity. And I've always liked it. It makes me feel cute."

"You are cute, Cait," Mitchie said.

"Obviously not cute enough," Caitlyn said bitterly, stabbing her ice cream before roughly shoving a slice of warm bread into the dip. "If Jason has a backup Caity."

"Katherine is not his backup Caity, Caitlyn," Ella said sternly. "And I get that you're upset, but you're not allowed to harsh on yourself."

Caitlyn laughed a little. "As long as you pop in Some Kind of Wonderful? I'm really relating to Watts right now."

Ella gave her a look, but got up and put the movie in the DVD player. "Hand me the Crème Brûlèe ice cream? And one of the Strawberry Daiquiris?"

"Did Nate do something stupid?" Mitchie asked.

"No. He hasn't done anything. Still. Which I guess is technically something stupid."

"At least you know Nate is interested in you?" Caitlyn said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Babe, Jason is interested. I promise you," Ella said. "He's just really bad at vocalizing it."

"How do you know he's interested?"

"The boy worships the ground you walk on."

Caitlyn snorted. "Be reasonable."

"_I _asked _him_ for ideas on your birthday gift last month."

"Really?" Caitlyn asked, shocked.

"Well, actually, we both tried to come up with things together. Some of his suggestions only made it all too clear that he has it bad."

"Such as?" Caitlyn asked eagerly.

"He wanted to order a box of a hundred mini rubber ducks."

Mitchie snorted with laughter. "That sounds like Jason, alright."

"Also, and decidedly more romantic, might I add," Ella continued, ignoring Mitchie. "Cameos. Lots of them. He wanted to get you a whole set. Necklace, bracelet, earrings, ring. Probably would have tried for a tiara made of them if I hadn't talked him into just the—never mind. Your birthday's not for two more weeks."

"Why would I need a cameo tiara?"

"To be his queen, of course," Mitchie said in a dramatic voice.

"Stop making fun of him!" Ella exclaimed. "Just because you have a boyfriend…"

"I'm not making fun of him. I love the boy. He's adorable. But he has a tendency to go above and beyond. Especially when it comes to Caits."

Caitlyn growled. "Can we _not_ talk about Jason and how he's sweet and adorable and all that shit when I'm mad at him?" She picked up a piece of bread and violently jammed it into her ice cream.

She pouted. "Goddammit. There's garlic bread in my Phish Food."

All three of them fell silent for a moment before bursting into giggles.

Caitlyn picked up the remote and hit the play button, causing Mitchie and Ella to fall silent as they all started getting into the opening of the movie.

"God, can you imagine the arms Watts must have, playing the drums like that all the time?" Caitlyn said.

"They'd be like Nate's…" Ella said dreamily.

Caitlyn snorted. "Are you fantasizing about Watts' arms on Nate or something?"

"That's sort of creeperly," Mitchie said.

"Shut up, both of you! You're making me miss the movie!" Ella said. "Hand me another Sangria thing. These are yummy."

"Okay, but if you pen anymore odes to Nate's arms…or Watts' for that matter…" Caitlyn said.

"That was one time! And you were the one who kept giving me margaritas! And it was just one song. You were the one who sang about Jason's ass!"

"God, I'm so glad I'm not suffering from sexual tension," Mitchie commented to himself.

"Shut up! We're going to miss Keith being an idiot on the train tracks! It's my favorite part! He's being such a hot badass!" Caitlyn said loudly, turning up the volume.

Mitchie gave Caitlyn an unamused look. "You need to make up with Jason ASAP."

"What does that mean?"

"You know what it means, Cait."

"You two need to stop arguing over Caitlyn's lack of a love life and let me watch the movie in peace," Ella spoke up.

"Okay, _Nate_," Caitlyn said.

"Shut up," Ella said, sticking her tongue out.

They continued watching the movie and eating when Caitlyn suddenly burst out, "Why are we even watching this? I'm not Watts, Jason isn't Keith, and _Katie_ isn't Amanda Jones. My life sucks. It worse than sucks."

"Cait…stop being over-dramatic. We can watch Titanic if you really want something depressing," Mitchie said, pausing the movie.

"Or Romeo and Juliet," Ella suggested.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "You two are crazy. I hope you know."

"We do. Gotta keep up with you, don't we?"

"I suppose," Caitlyn said evenly.

"So why are we sitting here moping with you instead of yelling at Jason and trying to fix this?"

"Because yelling at Jason doesn't work?" Caitlyn said with a shrug.

Mitchie and Ella exchanged a look and shrugged. If Caitlyn didn't want to discuss how to fix the Jason problem, there was nothing they could do. They went back to the movie and when it ended, they both got up.

"Sorry to leave you Cait, but I need to get back to Shane's. He's trying to make dinner for us tonight and I'm scared he's going to burn something down."

"And I have three dresses to make by Wednesday," Ella said, picking up her purse. "But honestly…fix things with Jase. Please? I can't stand to have you two not speaking."

Caitlyn sighed heavily. "Okay. I'll try. But I make no promises." She sat on the couch as Mitchie and Ella left, and after twenty minutes of staring at the TV screen, Caitlyn had had it. She turned off her TV and threw the remote into the armchair across the room.

She needed to do something.

The pet shop was just two blocks away. She could start off there, then go to the café across the street from it, then go to the boutique next door to it.

Yes. That's what she would do. Soon as she got dressed.

She switched her sweats for jeans and put her gray Vans back on before she grabbed her purse.

When she walked into the pet store, she stopped short. Jason was standing with his back to her, peering in at one of the birds.

"So she got mad at me because she thinks I have another Caity. But I only called Katherine Katie because she called me Allen. Caitlyn is my only Caity."

Caitlyn smiled softly and sneaked closer.

"I don't like it when people call me Allen. Katherine knows that. But she still calls me that. I don't know why. Maybe she has a thing for me. But it's really stupid to call a person you like a name that annoys them. Besides. I don't like her. I like Caity."

The bird tweeted and flapped its wings and she saw Jason smile.

"I really like her. She's pretty and smart and she doesn't treat me like an idiot, even if I do something to offend her. Like having another Caity. But they're spelled differently. So I don't actually have another Caity."

The bird tweeted again and Jason rolled his eyes. "You're a girl, aren't you?" he asked. "You'd have to be. You're all annoyed at the thought that I have another Caity." The bird ruffled its feathers. "I'm sorry, birdie. I didn't mean that. You're very pretty. Do you think Caity would be mad if I bought you and named you Caity?"

"Yes, I would," Caitlyn suddenly spoke up.

Jason turned around very slowly and faced her. "Um…h-hi, Caity. Caitlyn. Whatever you want me to address you as."

She smiled slightly and shrugged. "Caity's fine."

He looked at her shyly. "You mean that?"

"For right now," she said, crossing her arms. "But to start…what the hell are you doing in _my_ pet shop?"

Jason rolled his eyes at her tone. "Caity…you don't even have a pet. It can't be _your_ pet shop."

"It's on my street. You live twelve blocks away."

"This place has birds."

"_Jason," _she said exasperatedly. "Don't use excuses with me. Tell me the truth."

"What truth is this?" he asked with a smile.

She stamped her foot and growled. "Stop being all cute and difficult. I'm mad at you. I'm _furious._ I'm so angry at you…"

He smirked. "I don't think so…"

"Don't presume to tell me what I think, Jason Allen. You don't know me half as well as you think you do…"

He cocked a brow at her. "Would you bet on that?" he asked her quietly.

"Um…yeah," she said unsurely, taking a step back.

Jason grinned. "What are the terms?"

"Well, if I win, you stop calling other girls Caity. And if you win, you stop calling other girls Caity."

"That's a hard bargain, Caity…but I think I can manage," he said with a smile. "One, I know you love waking up in the middle of the night to go get food at the diner. Two, you never wear matching socks unless you're going to be around Ella. Three, you will gladly stay up all night for a Ghost Hunters marathon, even though you know you'll scare yourself silly."

"It's Destination Truth, not Ghost Hunters. You lose."

"I knew it was some creepy show on SyFy."

"Whatever, Jase. I forbid you from ever calling another girl Caity again. Unless she introduces herself as such."

He smiled. "Why do you care so much, Caity?"

"Because…because I just do, alright?" she said loudly. "I was the only one you called Caity. I like it when you call me Caity. It makes me feel cute."

He smiled and rolled his eyes. "You_ are_ cute, Caity."

She smiled back. "Let me finish. I don't care that you know other girls who aren't me or Mitchie or Ella or Tess or Peggy or Dana—"

"I get the picture, Caity."

"Anyway…I don't care about that. That's fine. I do care when you use what has been adopted as my nickname on other girls. I mean, _I'm_ your Caity. Not Katherine. Who apparently hates that nickname. Why would you call a girl a name she doesn't even like? That's messed up. And Shane's department. Not yours."

Jason smiled. "You're _my_ Caity?"

"Is that the only thing you paid attention to, Jason? Because if so, I still need to go to the café and the boutique and spend too much money."

"Or I could go with you and spend my own money on you…" Jason said, grabbing her hand.

Caitlyn bit her lip and smiled up at him. "That's not necessary, Jase."

"Babe—Caity," he amended hastily at her arched eyebrow. "My wallet can take the hit. Let's go buy you stuff," he said, tugging her hand as they left the pet store.

She cleared her throat loudly. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked.

"Such as…?" he asked.

Caitlyn gave him an incredulous look. "Kiss me, you idiot."

He chuckled. "Oh, that."

"Well?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he said with a grin as he bent down to capture her lips. Caitlyn locked her arms around Jason's neck as she stretched up on her tiptoes to return the kiss, smiling happily as Jason continued kissing her.

"Better?" he asked when they broke apart. Caitlyn nodded and Jason quirked a smile. "I would have continued, but I think too many people are around."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "You care too much. Now let's go. I plan on dragging you into the dressing room with me at the boutique."

"Okay, Caity. Whatever you want."


End file.
